Amazon Mechanical Turk

[MelCo]

Hey guys I was wondering if anyone had any good tips for using amazon mechanical turk? Is there better hits than others, ones that go faster? Im new to the site and any tips would be great.

[missbobloblaw]

Its public knowledge now! :D
Who else has gotten a 'Master Classification'?
NO MORE CAPTCHA! :D :D :D YIPEEEE!

[iAmBrendaLee]

The drama on the TN forum over the master qualifications is really disheartening. I am wondering what benefit, aside from the missing captcha, there really is for workers who have the quals. It seems like a lot of risk (including some rather devious schemes mentioned by some!) for very little reward. I haven't touched the HITs, and I don't think I will be.

Remember the mention that a portion of the 20% fee would go to master workers? That seems to have vanished into mid-air. All we got was a forum and no captcha -- and that's just so we can do the HITs faster and make more money for Amazon.

I'm not happy. lol

[missbobloblaw]

The drama on the TN forum over the master qualifications is really disheartening. I am wondering what benefit, aside from the missing captcha, there really is for workers who have the quals. It seems like a lot of risk (including some rather devious schemes mentioned by some!) for very little reward. I haven't touched the HITs, and I don't think I will be.

Remember the mention that a portion of the 20% fee would go to master workers? That seems to have vanished into mid-air. All we got was a forum and no captcha -- and that's just so we can do the HITs faster and make more money for Amazon.

I'm not happy. lol

I don't go on TN very often- but I just read thru the thread That 20% extra is what people pay to post hits. I've done some of the photo ones- and its one pic for 4 cents. Not a bad rate- and better than average by far- but its capped at 16 hits which blows!
I can understand why some people are irked. I know why I got 'in' I've done almost 10K hits 99% image related and have less than 45 rejected hits. There is power in numbers!

[BelleDiamond]

I tried registering, and after I filled out my address, etc. and logged in with my existing amazon.com account, I got the following message:

We have detected that your Amazon Payments account cannot be used with Amazon Mechanical Turk
Click 'Continue' to sign in with a different account or create a new one.

Anyone know why? I sent an email to their support department, but if anyone's got a solution in the meantime, I would much appreciate it!

Thanks!

[iAmBrendaLee]

Canadians can't have Amazon Payment accounts (unless that's changed). So, if you have one, you'll have to email customer service and have them close it. Then, make sure your address on amazon.com is correct. When you go to sign up for mturk, it will then use your correct Canadian address, and you'll be all set. It's been a year since I signed up and had to go through all of that. I figure the process is probably still the same?

[BelleDiamond]

Oh, that explains it. They only said that prior activity on my account won't let me register, I was a little confused. Since then I registered for a separate account for MTurk and earned about $12, but it turns out that it's a misinformation that you get get paid into a US account besides the gift certificate option. If you are a Canadian, according to customer service you can only get paid in an Amazon.com gift certificate, even if you have a US bank account. Is this really true, or is there someone here who knows different?

If this is really the case, and you can only redeem your earnings in Amazon bucks, I find this to be revolting and a communist approach. They offer you jobs at sweatshop rates, then tell you that the only way you get to spend your money is by spending it in their online store. There's a pretty good chance that for most workers who are willing to work for that kind of money - their first spending priority is not going to be books, home decor and electronics. Everyone else offers Paypal payouts, it's only Amazon that doesn't give a damn about ethics.

[iAmBrendaLee]

Yeah, every newbie Canadian goes through those feelings. I asked in the master workers forum, and they said they're looking at possible options for paying international workers. We'll see if anything ever comes of that.

Think of it this way. You can make a lot of money, and that money can go towards a lot of things for the home -- parts for your washing machine, bike or car, clothing for the kids, Christmas (which is pretty much completely taken care of by Amazon/mturk for me). You can find just about everything if you look hard enough -- vitamins, make-up, shower curtains, thermometers. It's not ideal, because I would love to spend my earnings on important things like food and braces for my daughter, but it's something.

I've pretty much gotten my daughter's back-to-school wardrobe shopping done with my earnings. In reality, I can't afford expensive brand names, but I found some amazing deals on Amazon. Do a search for clothing for $20 or less. You'd be shocked at what you can find. The fact that I can get all of her clothing with my earnings means I have more money for groceries.

[BelleDiamond]

It's great to see that some workers are getting good use out of MTurk. The only thing I don't understand though, is why would anyone in North America work for $2 - $3 an hour if they're not completely desperate? By desperate I mean, looking for a real job but currently in the limbo, need money for food and rent desperate.

Brenda, I don't know your situation - perhaps you have a little one who's still at home and this is a great way to make an extra buck until the baby is kindergarten age. Otherwise, you could take the time you invest in MTurk, and get a real paying job, even part time - perhaps while your daughter is in school. Considering the minimum wage in US and Canada, any job pays at least 3 to 5 times more, and you could afford much more for your kids or just spend a lot less time earning it. But again, if you have a little one, this is a great way to make some extra money until they're kindergarten or school age, when you can actually leave the home and get to work.

Best of luck to everyone! But for those preferring to stay on the computer making very little money on account of being in some sort of a comfort zone, snap out of it - and if you have any way at all to get a decently paying job, just do it!

[ginger150]

I like to do this in my downtime, while watching TV or whatever. I make much more than $2-$3 an hour. I don't consider this a job, rather something along the same lines as paying surveys etc. I have a "real" job, but I still enjoy my writing tasks on Mturk, and again, make much more than $2 an hour. To each their own, right?

[iAmBrendaLee]

Personally, I have health issues that prevent me from working, so I'm stuck at home twiddling my thumbs most of the day. I make a lot more than $2-3/hour, as well -- at the very least, minimum wage with minimum effort. I also get the opportunity to write/edit and keep my brain active. With fibromyalgia, that's an extremely important benefit.

No one's forcing you to do it, though. So, you go off to work or look for work or whatever it is you prefer to do with your day, and I'll make use of my time at home and earn a bit of extra cash.

In any case, try not to tell me what I should and should not be doing, because it's extremely obnoxious.

[BelleDiamond]

Brenda, I'm not trying to tell you what to - as I mentioned in my post I don't know your situation. The reason I'm sharing what I think, is because even though it might not be you personally, I do think a lot of people are being taken advantage of. Not everyone on MTurk has fibromyalgia, there are those who do this kind of work even though better options exist, yet never take the initiative to explore them. No, it is none of my business what everyone else does with their time, but I don't do anyone harm by posting a wake up call message to those potential readers who could use it. While those this scenario doesn't apply to should not take it upon themselves, and those it does apply to can decide whether to take the advice or leave it. There is nothing for me to gain, the only winner here is either MTurk or you.

And if you do make minimum wage, please let the rest of us know how.. Thanks.

[ginger150]

I make more than minimum wage. You need to take tests and qualify for the higher paying tasks. I mainly write short articles, and can write them quite quickly, earning more than minimum wage.

[RedEng]

I haven't done any tasks in a while. These ones are super easy by crowdflower and pay $.30, they are like the Casino Tasks on swagbucks or superpoints. Search 'Description Review' in the search box for tasks, you should get 3. I'm not sure if you can do them once daily, but this is my second day completing them.

[Doctor Bunsen]

I tried this a while back, but it would take me like an entire day to make $20. The only time it was really worth it was when I found a product category one for .40 or .50 and made about $11 in an hour.